Florida's Will Muschamp hosts Texas-style roundup with rave reviews

6:02 p.m. EST, February 21, 2012|By Chris Hays, The Prospector

Florida head football coach Will Muschamp threw a Texas-style shindig on Saturday night that might have Florida fans throwing up the ole 'Hook 'em Gators' sign. Muschamp tore a page out of the Texas recruiting handbook and put together a Gator junior day event-turned-celebration in Gainesville that was successful beyond the imagination of even the staunchest Bull Gators.

Early indications last week pointed to at least two or three prospects committing to the Gators heading into the junior-day party, including one big commitment out of little-big-man RB Kelvin Taylor (5-11, 220) of Belle Glade Glades Day High School. Taylor, of course, is the son of former Gator legend Fred Taylor, so no one really figured he was actually going to pick Alabama, his other finalist.

He didn't. He's a committed Gator, and as it turned out, so are five other prospects. They were staking their claims to 2013 Florida roster spots on Sturday like Black Friday shoppers hoping to get in before the flock of the masses.

When Muschamp was an assistant coach for the Longhorns, junior-day events were like a Lone Star roundup and Texas coaches herded prospects up the chutes as fast as they could open the gates. It wasn't unusual for a Texas junior event to produce 15-20 commitments in one day.

For their 2011 class, the Longhorns landed 17 of their 25 signees on junior day, and last year, they snagged 12 commitments toward the eventual 2012 class of 28. The junior-day numbers in Austin have dwindled. Last month the Longhorns had zero commitments from the first junior day and Texas has just five pledges for 2013..

It's not likely just a coincidence that the Texas junior-day success of the past has come eastward with Muschamp.

Florida has picked up steam in recruiting for 2013, and, as measured by the "Prospector Rankings," they sit second in the country in the current team race. (These are simplified rankings based on Rivals' star-rating system. If you land a 5-star player, it's five points; 4-star player, four points, and so on. No stars still gets one point.)

Michigan and second-year coach Brady Hoke have been busy trying to stay one-up on Urban Meyer at Ohio State. Michigan has 11 commitments, 10 of which are 4-star players, giving the Wolverines a Prospector Rating of 41 points and the No. 1 rung in the early 2013 team count. The Gators, with eight 4-star commitments and two un-rated players, have 34 Prospector points and are No. 2.

Texas A&M, much to the chagrin of their friends over in Austin, produced a huge junior-day turnout and has 13 commitments. The Aggies are No. 3 with 28 Prospector points.

In Gainesville, It was a junior day for the ages and the visitors got caught up in the excitement on Saturday Even players who did not commit -- or receive an offer from UF -- got caught up in all of the hoopla on Saturday.

Orlando East River linebacker Ryne Rankin (6-1, 225), who has offers from Cincinnati and Temple, said, "It was pretty good. It had a cool atmosphere and that feeling of walking into The Swamp was pretty cool."

And that's a guy who used to have Tennessee as his top school. He's wide-open now.

One who is not wide open is one of the Gator junior-day pledges Keanu Neal (6-1, 204), but the Bushnell South Sumter safety did not pull the trigger until about 9 p.m.

"My mom and dad went with me and when I told them I had made my decision, my dad said, 'What took you so long?' They loved it," Neal said. "It was very exciting and it was a great atmosphere. We had a great time."

Besides Taylor and Neal, the Gators also received a commitment from one of the top defensive players in the state with Daytona Beach Mainland star and defensive athlete Quinton Powell (6-3, 220), the No. 3-ranked player in the Sentinel's 2013 Florida Top 100. Powell He plays defensive end at Mainland, but we call him a D-ATH because he will be able to play a number of positions on the defensive side of the ball, which will give him an opportunity to will roam in the Buck linebacker spot at UF, even acting in somewhat of a hybrid safety-linebacker capacity in nickel and dime packages.

The Gators are just ahead of Alabama in pledge numbers (7), while the Tide do have a 5-star prospect to go along with six 4-stars and a Prospector Rating of 25, right on the Gators' heels. Both teams have a jump on the rest of the SEC. Georgia and LSU both stand at five commitments and 14 Prospector points.